BoyzBieber

[boyz-bieber]

“I don’t know where to start with this whole story but the um.. the California west coast feeling really liberated me. I learned so much. About spiritualism and and just about how to live naturally and not feel...part of the..ya know 9 to 5” - Tom Bieber, 2018 (at Comptche, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzBG9tvgXKC/?igshid=181xi2fewm8lt

[boyz-bieber]

Paris, 2019 The royal chapel of Sainte-Chappelle was the residence of kings until the 14th century, and still home to some of the most impressive stained glass windows in the world. As we strolled through the nave my father eloquently explained the history of the building, and how important it is to French culture. 10 minutes later in the park he had to use the bathroom, and proceeded to whip it out and starting peeing right on the path in broad daylight...until I suggested he at least take cover in the bushes. You can’t always choose your role models, but I’m grateful to have his same appreciation for art and history, as well as a bit of his DGAF attitude...albeit hopefully with a little more tact than my dad ⛪️🌳🤦‍♂️🤷‍♂️ #saintechapelle #jardinduluxembourg #stainedglass #strainedrelationship #chappelleshow #historylessons #monpere #rolemodel #gottalaughsometimes #dadsnegatives #andpositives (at Île de la Cité) https://www.instagram.com/p/Byfl16sAVfp/?igshid=1fyi5n2czk02n

[boyz-bieber]

France, 2019 On the way to sell some weed in Paris 🌲🔥💨 My father has been a marijuana advocate for decades, before it became socially acceptable and long before it became recreationally legal. He still grows his own and sells a bit to close friends. I can’t fault him for his beliefs or even for trying to make some extra cash, but accompanying him on his deliveries made me feel like a little boy all over again. It was an experience for sure, escorting this old man all over town, but once again his business came first, Once again I secondary. He never does it on purpose...but he sometimes he still makes me feel so fucking small. #weedmaps #marijuanaman #farmtojar #quieresfumar #lightup #fadeout #prioritiesinorder #subwayart #inbetweenblues #myfujifilm #dadsnegatives #andpositives (at Les Gobelins) https://www.instagram.com/p/BydQr2vg-vX/?igshid=10hzovxbcs0ii

[boyz-bieber]

Paris, France Dad’s weed, 2019 #weedmaps #tinybuds #bigdeal #bottomofthebarrel #driedfruit #trimmingsandlace #oldhands #surehands #dadsnegatives #andpositives (at Musée Picasso Paris) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByX_sU-g7pq/?igshid=1qhe0ii7a03h1

[boyz-bieber]

Paris, 2019 I’ve focused mainly on the positive with these posts recently but, after spending the weekend with my father, there’s still so much left unsaid. I wanted to lay into him, to be real with my feels, but I couldn’t bring myself to be truly honest. Not yet. He cracked his head open right before I arrived, and I didn’t want to crack on him any harder; the timing just didn’t feel right. Maybe it never will. I love you pops, even if I hate you sometimes. (at Seine River) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByDbfWuAMYN/?igshid=16a3wqxm6lzqj

[boyz-bieber]

Few of my favorite images my dad shot over the years - some of which he has not seen since he shot them! So I made prints. Looking forward to showing him his own work, and hearing the stories behind the images 📷 1. New York, 1970’s 2. “There is nothing like the power of a good print” - @bonny_artconsulting https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxm0kuiHcsc/?igshid=1dk5qsri49ky4

[boyz-bieber]

Nadillac, France 2018 After taking time off social media to collect myself, I'm headed back to France next week to interview my dad again. I want to share all of his photos I have archived with him, and make sure I have his input, and his blessing to continue, in person. After all that's what it's all about. ———-////———————————— My father fled the United States twenty years ago to avoid going back to prison on drug trafficking charges. He was a drug dealer and an addict my entire life. In and out of jail and even through a nasty divorce with my mother, he was always there for me...until he wasn't. He left when I was 12 years old. smuggling himself out of the US and back France (via Canada), after his latest serious arrest and parole violation. There has always been a lot of love between my father and I, but he has always been more like a crazy uncle than a father figure. When he fled I was left without any male role model to help guide my through my formative years. I have gone to visit a number of times, but our relationship is for now still estranged. A week together every other summer, with casual emails and sparse phone calls in between just isn't enough. So I have gotten to know my father through his photography. I have scanned his entire photo archive, nearly 5000 negatives spanning 50 years and 3 continents. Perhaps I am biased but to me his best images are timeless, evoking the same sense of wonder I feel when looking at the work of my photographic heroes; Sally Mann, Bruce Davidson, or Henry Wessel. There is a tenderness in my father’s best images, a quality I am constantly chasing in my own work. The goal of this project is to get the story down line for line. For my own understanding, and for anyone else who might find it interesting. It's personal and painful but also oh so cathartic. The more I share the more I realize that we are better off when we know each other's story. 🖤 #backatit #forartssake #frenchconnection #fatherfigure #smokeyeyes #hazymemories #dadsnegatives #andpositives (at Cahors) https://www.instagram.com/p/BxfMUo8ALr8/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1jqkym1su8i6a

[boyz-bieber]

Lower East Side, 1960’s / 2019 The first image is one of my favorites unearthed from my father’s archive of street photography. The lines of wheel well, the curvature of the Volkswagens in the background, the no-bullshit body language of the little girl - it feels like a shot I would try to make. 📷 The second is a shot I did make, inspired by this whole dad project and seeing where my style comes from, by design and subconsciously alike. Not the exact same location but same neighborhood, both physically and imaginatively. 🖤 . . . #streetphotography #forartsake #chasingwaterfalls #LES #throughtheyears #nobullshit #likefather #likeson #dadsnegatives #andpositives (at Max Fish) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwuYKKQAQsV/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=hdsi1pczuimy

[boyz-bieber]

Thomas Robert Joel Bieber Born: April 22nd, 1945 Montauban, France When I was four years old my family lived on a small farm in Northern California. I remember waking one morning, knowing it was my father’s birthday but inexplicably finding a present at the foot of my bed, beautifully wrapped in crisp white paper. Certain it was a mistake that someone had left it on my little bunk, rather than my parent’s big bed, I examined it closely and decided to wait under the covers for someone to come retrieve the misplaced gift. But I was four...and there was a mystery present in my room...so naturally I crept back over to it and continued to examine it, crinkling the spotless white wrapping paper as I held it unsure what to do. At last my guilt got the best of me ( I thought I had ruined the gift by creasing the paper) and I trudged out into the living room to present the present to my dad and explain the mixup. As I began to mumble my apology to the group of folks gathered for a birthday breakfast, My dad interrupted “Oh you found it! I didn’t want the day to be all about me so thought we could share my birthday. Open it! Open it!” My eyes went wide and I tore open the carefully wrapped package with the reckless abandon of a four year-old. It was a plastic bow and arrow, the kind with little suction cup arrows, too small for my dad. This was for me. The bow and arrow broke almost instantly, forgotten amongst a sea of other cheap toys, but that morning will always be remembered. 🎁 For all his faults, my father is one of the sweetest people I have ever known. 🏹 Happy Birthday Daddio, a bientot 🖤 https://www.instagram.com/p/BwkI6s7A-Mg/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=l53re5m0kav6

[boyz-bieber]

Mum’s awkward faces 1979-2015 I get my mum’s birthday wrong every year. Every. Single. Year. 🇱🇺 Born and raised outside of Amsterdam my mum left home at 17 and never really looked back. She’s bold, clever, compassionate and kind of a bad-ass. Mother and at times father figure, shes always carried the load with the grace of a true queen. At one point I was even convinced she was related to Princess Diana. She’s one of my best friends. And still every year I forget her birthday. Every year I think it’s April 15th, and every year I’m a week late. Not sure what’s wrong with me but I don’t think I get that from her. 🖤 Happy belated Mum, here’s a collection of in-between moments that I love. 📷🖤👸 #happybirthdaymom #neverontime #alwayslate #onthebaybridge #orthegoldengate #inbetweenmoments #royalty #ourlife #onfilm #keepitweird #dadsnegatives #andpositives #minetoo https://www.instagram.com/p/BwSS9u7gY2r/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=rwl70i7sy19b

[boyz-bieber]

Nancy in Studio, NYC 1960’s I don’t know who Nancy was but I’m Stoked to see her. 🖤 As I try to piece the timeline together, filling in the holes and minding the gaps of the stories that make up my father’s history, discovering images like these is so fucking fulfilling. 🖤 He was an artist before my time, and now being able to use my skills to archive and rescue his lost images inspires me to create new work, to experiment and embrace the happy accidents, just as he did. 🖤 #fullcircle #cometogether #forartsake #studiophotography #cutfilm #35mm #safetyfilm #dadsnegatives #andpositives https://www.instagram.com/p/BwNIqp3gnc8/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=fa2fcpcvtlem

[boyz-bieber]

Nancy in Studio, NYC 1960’s I don’t know who Nancy was but I’m Stoked to see her. 🖤 As I try to piece the timeline together, filling in the holes and minding the gaps of the stories that make up my father’s history, discovering images like these is so fucking fulfilling. 🖤 He was an artist before my time, and now being able to use my skills to archive and rescue his lost images inspires me to create new work, to experiment and embrace the happy accidents, just as he did. 🖤 #fullcircle #cometogether #forartsake #cutfilm #35mm #studiophotography #dadsnegatives #andpositives (at New York, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwNIEwGAJNV/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=lc5ys4arkegk

[boyz-bieber]

Taking the advice of smart people, and making prints of some of the choice images for my next interview session with my old man. Thanks everyone for your input, very much appreciated 🖤 #printedmatter #printsmatter #hearttoheart #hotoffthepress #dadsnegatives #andpositives https://www.instagram.com/p/BwCwtPNgU0G/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1lv5bj556kw28

[boyz-bieber]

Quick clip of my father remembering where he got his chops from. Despite being pretty hazy, He is sometimes still quite eloquent. I’m thinking of compiling a bunch of these off the cuff slideshows before my next trip out to see him, some things to share to get him in the zone for a real heart-to-heart. 🖤 Curious to know if you all think this format works? Shout out to #topshotta @mikeomeally for teaching me the rhythm #chops #allkinds #newyorkstateofmind #kingofnewyork #orprince #weed #women #alcohol #poetry #alltheimportantthings #slideshow #dadsnegatives #andpositives (at New York, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv2TkHRAvIO/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1v0k2wlktfef1

[boyz-bieber]

Our life on film I’ve finally finished scanning everything i have, 4500 odd slides and negatives that compose my father’s life in photographs. My life too. These are moments I cherish as proper good memories of my childhood, along with others I can’t recall that I’m so grateful to have found. I can feel our connection in these images, our similarities and differences. My dad wasn’t around much after his first major arrest. I remember the detectives walking up our long dirt driveway in their suits, my sister crying, my mom ripping the cops a new A. Dad went pretty quietly. My folks held it together for the next few years, for the sake of the kids, but the dream had been broken. People often comment how cool it is he’s in Europe, but to me it wouldn’t matter if it was Paris France or Paris Texas, Reno or Rocamadour. He was larger than life when I was little, but bottom line is he wasn’t there to guide me, when I really needed him to show me how to be a man. But I’ve still got access. Maybe we can still figure that shit out together. #lifeonfilm #catsinthecradle #littleboyblue #maninthemoon #myfatherseyes #80sbaby #simplertimes #arrestedmoments #frenchcinnection #dadsnegatives #andpositives https://www.instagram.com/p/BvmSKTJg7U_/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1tq9spzny9hbb

[boyz-bieber]

Dad’s Double Exposures, 1980-1984 For as long as I can remember my father always had a camera with him. He was a hobbyist; an amateur with a few photos in #thenewyorker back in the day, (a fact he still brings up almost every time we talk art) but it was his genuine love of making images that got me excited to take my first photo class in high school. I saw it as something we could have in common after he fled, a sort of father-son language only we could speak... This was before I knew anything. Before I ever found another photographer I could relate to. Before I knew of Larry Sultan, who did it better than I ever will. 🖤📷 “What drives me to continue this work is difficult to name. It has more to do with love than with sociology, with being a subject in the drama rather than a witness. And in the odd and jumbled process of working everything shifts; the boundaries blur, my distance slips, the arrogance and illusion of immunity falters. I wake up in the middle of the night, stunned and anguished. These are my parents. From that simple fact, everything follows. I realize that beyond the rolls of film and the few good pictures, the demands of my project and my confusion about its meaning, is the wish to take photography literally. To stop time. I want my parents to live forever.” - Larry Sultan, Pictures from Home #larrysultan #larrylegend #softeyes #picturesfromhome #putupwork #noticewhatsmissing #dadsnegatives #andpositives (at Yancey Richardson Gallery) https://www.instagram.com/p/BvXctNKABoO/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=fxi7bf8dnsgw

[boyz-bieber]

Port Jefferson, 1987 My grandparents immigrated to the states in 1945 just after my father was born. Narrowly escaping the holocaust, they lost most of their friends and family but never their spirit. They raised their only son with a zest for life and experience, which I think I was lucky enough to inherit from them as well. Except for maybe in this first photo...baby’s first ice cream headache 🍦. #longislandliving #threegenerations #twodegenerates #80sbaby #icecreamtime #todah #opa #oma #dadsnegatives #andpositives (at Long Island Sound) https://www.instagram.com/p/BvHWteqgSjv/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=xe4pdpicfu4s